I Hate May Day
by Bellaluna1
Summary: HMCSophie is quite literally dragged to May Day a year after she first met Howl. Her feeling of hatred towrds the holiday have not seemed to have faded away, but Howl is determined to make her have a good time. Complete
1. Part One

Sophie was about to tip over the edge of murder. She was ready to mug the next person who came even a step closer to her. That is, she would if she could see any of them. At the moment she was standing. She didn't know WHERE she was standing, but she was standing. She was pretty sure that Michael wasn't too far off because she could hear his obviously nervous breathing. What had Howl and Michael been thinking tying her up with a blindfold like this? That was the only thought on her mind. That, and, 'I'm going to kill them'.

It had only been that morning when Sophie, after taking a bath and changing had gone down to the kitchen to start making breakfast for everyone. She whistled and hummed a tune as she pulled out the bacon, eggs, and the frying pan. She went over to the fireplace and poked at it with the handle of the pan.

"Calcifur, are you in there. Come on wake up. I need to make breakfast," she called. After a long pause and no Calcifur Sophie stopped poking and stared down at the empty fireplace. "Calcifur?"

She was fully aware that Calcifur could come and go as he pleased now that his contract with Howl was null and void, but it was very unusual for him NOT to be resting in the fireplace. Despite all his complaining it really was his favorite spot in the castle. Sophie put all of the food and the pan down and crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'Where in heavens name could that demon be?' she thought agitatedly. 'Though I suppose if he's a demon then heaven wouldn't be the correct wording,' she mused.

Suddenly Sophie felt two arms slither over her shoulders and embrace her in a warm hug. She jumped in surprise, since once again she had not heard Howl enter the room. She had to admit she was getting better at catching him, but he still caught her off guard all the time. "Good morning," she sighed and relaxed into his embrace. "Isn't it a bit too early for your slithering?"

"Never," Howl's smooth voice replied. Sophie could tell just by his voice that he was smirking. "So what are you looking so stumped about?" he inquired.

"It's Calcifur, he's not in the fireplace," Sophie explained.

"I'm right over here Sophie," Calcifur called from behind the couple.

Sophie broke loose of Howl's hug and turned to look at where Calcifur had called. There he was floating just above the table. "Calcifur I need to…" she started.

"Michael, now!" Howl called.

Michael suddenly leaped off of the stairs and landed in front of Sophie. He paused and looked as if he was starting some kind of spell. "Howl, Michael what on earth are you doing?" Sophie shouted in alarm. It was far to early for any of this insanity.

"I'm really sorry about this Sophie," Michael frowned as he finished off his spell.

'You better be!' Sophie wanted to yell, but she found herself unable to. Actually she wasn't able to do much of anything. 'He used a freezing spell on me!' she thought angrily. Several curse words flew to Sophie's mind and at the moment she really wished that she could have unleashed them all upon all three of them. They had obviously planned all of this together.

"Now, now Sophie dearest," Howl said in a faux soothing voice. "Just relax, the spell will wear off soon enough," he assured her and stepped behind her once more. This time though he took a blindfold out of his pocket and tied it firmly, but not too tightly around Sophie's head, blocking her eyes from everything.

"All right, we should get going," Sophie heard Howl say with a clap of his hands.

Suddenly a lack of gravity overcame Sophie. 'A levitation spell too? What are these three planning?' sourly wondered. 'I'm going to kill them'

So now there she was. The levitation spell had been taken off, and she could feel the freezing one wearing off as well. Howl had departed since their arrival 'somewhere', leaving her with Michael, and possibly Calcifur. Soon it got to the point where Sophie was able to talk again, but the rest of her body went unmoving. "Michael. Would you mind kindly explaining…what the heck is going on?" She gave a shrill cry.

Michael first jumped at her cry, seeing as he had expected the spell to last until Howl came back, and then he cringed. He knew he was doomed if the spell came off completely. "Um…well…I can't say," he said meekly. "Master Howl made me swear not to tell."

"Michael come on, it's me, Sophie. You can tell me right?" she tried sweet-talking him.

"No, I'm sorry Sophie, really, but I can't!"

"That's quite all right Michael because I've returned…with back ups!" Howl called gaily as he made his apparent return.

Suddenly the spell over her wore off completely and Sophie crashed to her knees thanks to the sudden regain of her free will. She heard Howl walk over to her and kneel beside her. "No, Sophie, no attacking anyone all right?" he teased as he took off the blindfold, and then helped her up.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sophie gritted her teeth. She then looked to the so-called 'backups', only to see Fanny, Lettie, Martha, Mrs. Fairfax, Suliman, and one final man who was anxiously hiding underneath a solder's cap.

"W-what are you all doing here?" Sophie gasped.

"Why it's May Day of course!" Lettie and Martha said in unison and wrapped their arms through Sophie's, dragging her out on to the main street of Market Chipping where the parade was passing by. The music surrounded them with a roar as everyone cheered.

Sophie merely groaned and slumped over in utter defeat. For an instant she had contemplated escaping back to the castle, but with this many people looking after her, her chances were slim to none. She mentally cursed them all. What was so great about May Day anyways? It was just a bunch of people shouting and singing. "I hate May Day," she muttered as she was dragged into the crowd.


	2. Part Two

Sophie was trying with all her might to escape the grasp of her two younger sisters, but to no avail. "You are all evil, horrible people for making me come here!" she scolded. "I'll never forgive any of you for this you know!" She was really making a bigger fuss than was necessary, but at this point it was all she could do really.

"Now, now Sophie dear," Lettie patted her sister's arm. "There's no need to make such a commotion. It's just a little party."

"Little party? The whole town goes crazy on May Day," Sophie sternly protested.

"But it's all in good fun darling," Fanny reminded her. "You just need to relax and have some fun."

"It's true Sophie," Howl commented. "When I saw you at last years May Day festivities you looked as if you were being hunted down by a pack of wild beasts. You're not doing much better this year either. Though this year you might actually be the wild beast, the way you're acting," he teased.

Sophie was about ready to explode, if all this pushing, pulling, teasing and yelling didn't stop soon she was going to let them all have it. "I'm really NOT in the mood Howl," she growled, trying to contain herself. She knew that if she did let herself explode at them all she'd regret it later so she tried to stop herself.

"Ah, Miss Lettie, Miss Martha, I think it best that we let Miss Sophie go right now," the disguised man suggested. Both Lettie and Martha looked up at him and nodded in compliance, then let Sophie go.

Much to their surprise Sophie didn't try to run off. "Don't think I'm not running because I want to stay," Sophie muttered. The spells that had been cast on her earlier had really taken their toll and she was in no condition to be running. If she tried she knew they'd catch her within seconds. But then Sophie turned to the disguised man. She was really grateful that he had made her sisters let go of her. Her 'freedom' had calmed her down a bit. "Thank you um…" she said, searching for a name.

The man smirked and raised his hat a bit. "Hello Sophie," he grinned.

"Prince Justin?" she cried just a bit to loudly.

"SOPHIE!" everyone else seethed as people in the crowds looked towards them. Justin promptly shoved his hat further down, covering his face.

"Ah…that is Prince Justin is such a fair and wise brother to our great king!" Sophie lamely covered up her cry. It seemed to be a good enough explanation for the crowd though as they went back to their own conversations.

"Sorry sir," she blushed and bowed slightly to him.

"No, no its quite all right," Justin laughed. "And stop with the sir business. We're all friends here," he pointed out.

"That quite right," Lettie nodded firmly. "We're all friends who are going to ENJOY this wonderful May Day celebration."

"Oh of course Lettie dearest," Sophie said with a sarcastic drawl. "There is nothing I would enjoy more than pushing through a large, not to mention loud group of possibly drunk buffoons."

"Oh stop being so sour about it all and just relax," Howl remarked as he took Sophie's hand and dragged her into the crowd. He noted though that it didn't take much effort this time. He grinned childishly at the thought that he had 'won the battle'.

Sophie on the other hand just huffed and eyed all of the people they passed in the crowd. She could see that several of the women were eyeing Howl, and surprisingly he took no notice of their stares. As they got further and further into the crowd it got more…well crowded. A quiet whimper escaped Sophie's lips and she moved closer to Howl, wrapping her arms tightly around his.

Howl chuckled and looked down at Sophie. "What's the matter? You're starting to look like a frightened mouse again," he pointed out teasingly.

Sophie snorted at his little joke and turned her head to look over her shoulder. From this view she could see Michael walking hand in hand with Martha, both of them blushing furiously. This site alone made her almost smile. Then she spotted Lettie who was of course getting along quite well with Ben, though she did notice Justin wasn't too far away from them, not to mention Calcifur floating next to him. Lastly were Fanny and Mrs. Fairfax who were gossiping away. Sophie rolled her eyes at them and went back to concentrating on where they were going. "Where ARE we going anyways?" she asked.

"To eat," Howl replied pointing out a café not to far off in the distance.

"Ah, of course," Sophie nodded and reluctantly walked with Howl and the others to the café.

Sophie found the meal to be surprisingly enjoyable despite the entire ruckus going on around them. The food was good, and having the company of all her friends and family made it even more enjoyable. 'That's right Sophie,' she chided herself. 'You don't have to be lonely in a crowd anymore.'

After their meal the group decided to split up until the fireworks there were to be held just after sunset. Howl was extremely happy because this meant alone time with Sophie. Well it was as much alone time as they could get in a swarm of people. "So where shall we go now my lovely Sophie?" Howl asked dramatically.

"I don't know," Sophie replied with a shrug. "I really don't know much about the activities of May Day since I tried whole heartedly to avoid it."

"Ah, well that looks fun over there!" Howl said dragging Sophie over to a stand, which several people had crowded around.

This method went on for most of the day. Howl would ask, Sophie would shrug and then Howl would drag her to a new place. On the way to about their fifteenth booth they got stuck in an overly rowdy crowd. Sophie was doing her best to hold on to Howl's hand without getting left behind, but an obviously drunk man singing obnoxiously loud careened into Sophie, pushing her to the ground. And while she quickly recovered and jumped back up to her feet, it quickly became clear that Howl was nowhere in site. Sophie immediately went in the direction that she and Howl had just been going in.

After much pushing and shoving she made her way out of the crowd, but there was no Howl in site. 'Now what?' Sophie sighed. 'Maybe I should just go back to the castle…' But the fireworks would be starting soon and she had wanted to see those. She sighed for probably the hundredth time that day and trudged along through the many different crowds in hope of finding Howl, or at least somebody she knew.

When it had been at least an hour Sophie had given up all hope of finding anyone and the old familiar sensation of loneliness was consuming her once again. Everyone around her was having a jolly old time and there she was miserable and by herself. The situation began to overwhelm her and small tears began to form in her eyes. She walked over to a building in a daze and slumped down to the ground as she leaned against the wall of the building. She buried her face between her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging them against herself. 'I knew this was a bad idea,' she thought as the tears finally fell down her cheeks.

"It's all right, you gray little mouse," a familiar voice said an also familiar phrase.

Sophie gasped and her head shot up. There stood Howl smiling down at her. "I'm sorry I lost you," he said and kneeled down next to her. He spotted her tears and reached out and placed his hand on her cheek then proceeded to wipe away the tears. "This was supposed to be a good day, not a sad one," he sighed. "But there's just no pleasing you," he teased once more.

"Oh stop it," Sophie replied. "I was having a good time until I was…"

"Alone?"

Embarrassed at her childish attitude Sophie blushed and looked away from Howl, but said nothing.

Before she knew it though Howl and thrown himself at her and hugged her tightly against him. "See? You're not alone Sophie. I'm surprised that you've failed to see that so far," he said as her buried his face in her 'ginger' hair.

Sophie gasped as realization hit her hard. Tears started once more, but these happier than the previous, as she hugged Howl back. "I know," she sobbed. "You're right, I'm sorry for being such a fool."

Howl backed away slightly so that he could look at Sophie's face. "Hey now," he grinned. "No crying. Happy remember?"

Sophie nodded with a watery smiled and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "There, all better."

"Yes, much," Howl agreed. He paused and looked up at the sky. The sun was just about to set. "Hm, well it looks like it's time to go meet the others. Are you ready?"

Sophie nodded, and with Howl's help stood up. Together they quietly, but comfortably walked together to where they were meeting the others. When they got there everyone was already waiting for them. "Sophie!" Fanny gasped and got closer to her. "You're eyes are awfully red. Were you crying?"

"Howl, what'd you do to her now?" Calcifur laughed.

"Hey, that's very accusing of you Calcifur."

"Well who else was there to make her cry?" Martha pointed out, though she too was half joking.

"Oh no, it wasn't Howl really," Sophie assured everyone. "It was just something silly that I was thinking about. But I'm okay now, honestly," she told them. And she was too.

"All right, if you're sure…" Lettie said.

Just then the first firework went off and everyone's attention went towards the lit up sky. Numerous 'oo's' and 'ah's' came from everyone as they watched the fireworks with fascination.

"Hmm…" Howl muttered after a little while.

"What is it Howl?" Sophie wondered and looked up at him.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking we could get a better seat," he replied with a mischievous smile.

"What…ahh!" Sophie cried as Howl suddenly lifted them both up into the air with a spell and landed them on top of a building's roof.

"There. Much better," Howl said contently and held Sophie close to him.

"I suppose," Sophie replied. "But the other will be wondering where we went."

"Oh don't worry about them. Just enjoy the fireworks."

"Of course."

They sat in a comfortable silence watching the beautiful array of colors shoot through the sky until Howl cleared his throat. At this Sophie turned her face and looked up at Howl who was uncharacteristically, awkwardly looking at the sky, but did not look back at Sophie. She patiently waited because she knew that he had something to say.

"Let's get married."

"W-what?" Sophie cried.

Howl finally looked down at Sophie. "What? You mean you don't want to?"

"Well I…I do, but this is so, well out of the blue! I mean you can't just say 'let's get married' and have it be done with!" she pointed out in a tizzy.

"You can't?" Howl said with a thoughtful face. "Ah well, there goes my plan out the window," he laughed.

"Well for one thing, that wasn't much of a proposal," Sophie muttered.

"Hrm, all right," Howl nodded firmly and stood up, bringing Sophie with him. He wrapped one arm around her waist tightly and once more they flew up into the sky, though much higher up this time.

"What are you plotting now?" Sophie asked with wide eyes.

"This," he replied and dug into his pocket with his free hand. Upon bringing it out of his pocket he produced a small wooden case and handed it to Sophie. "Go ahead. Take a look," he urged her.

Sophie gulped and took the box from his hands and opened it. Inside was a dainty, yet beautiful diamond ring. Sophie gasped and looked back up at Howl. "Is this better?" he wondered.

Sophie nodded, happy tears forming in her eyes again as they dropped down to the ground below.

"So will you?"

"Yes," she smiled and buried her face into his coat. "Of course I will silly."

"Good," Howl smiled and kissed the top of her head as he held her close.

Meanwhile Lettie who was in Ben embrace felt water drop onto her. "Rain?" she blinked and looked up only to see her sister and Howl in a loving embrace. She smiled and laughed softly.

"Hm?" Ben gave her an odd look. "What is it?" he wondered.

Lettie merely pointed up to the sky. Ben, as well as everyone else in the group looked up at the flying couple. "Ah," Ben chuckled. "So it seems that he finally asked her."

"And she finally accepted," Lettie added.

Now their happy ending would really begin.


End file.
